Sora and the Lake of Sharks
by TravelingBackpack
Summary: Lakeside Village seems peaceful enough from a distance; but when Sora, Donald, and Goofy land the Gummi Ship, they realize they're dealing with a triple threat. Luckily, they won't be working alone. All content belongs to Kingdom Hearts and the Adventures of Tintin. Non-Slash.
1. Chapter 1

_So, I had this idea a while back about incorporating the Adventures of Tintin into Kingdom Hearts. I recognize that the "Tintin and the Lake of Sharks" story is not an original Herge script, but I thought the goofiness of the story fit in quite well with KH. This takes place sometime before the events of Kingdom Hearts III. Constructive comments and suggestions are accepted. Rated K+ because I'm cautious. All content belongs either to KH or the Adventures of Tintin. (Non-Slash)_

**Chapter One**

"I don't get it," Sora said. "That looks like a pretty peaceful world." The Keyblade Wielder and his companions Donald and Goofy were staring at a new destination on the Gummi Ship's radar screen. Unlike most of the worlds they had visited, all of which usually appeared dark and ominous, this appeared to be a quaint little town situated next to a large body of water. To Sora, it looked slightly similar to the mainland of his home world, Destiny Islands.

"Well," Goofy said, scratching his head as if the matter required more thought, "if the Keyblade is sending us here, there must be something funny going on."

"I know. It just doesn't look like a trouble spot." It did not look like Port Royal with its constant state of night and ominous full moon, nor did it appear as the former Hollow Bastion, which had originally been broken to bits. This looked to be as much a hamlet as Traverse Town, Twilight Town, and the newly restored Radiant Gardens.

"It's always the peaceful worlds that cause the most problems," Donald warbled. _True,_ Sora thought, recalling the Heartless boss he had fought twice in Traverse Town. Then, of course, the Organization had practically dominated Twilight Town. He did not even want to get started with Radiant Gardens, where he had fought one of the Organization's members, battled a thousand Heartless, and eventually challenged Sephiroth (which was the worst mistake he had ever made in his life).

"I guess we'd better check it out then," Sora said, and the Gummi Ship began to descend into the world known as Lakeside Village.

Two children and their dog were currently holding onto three ropes tethered to an already unbalanced plane teetering on the edge of a fairly large cliff. The first of the children, a young boy named Niko, grit his teeth as he readjusted his grip. He knew that he and his sister could only hold on for so long before the plane finally fell. After all, two children could not keep a ten-ton plane from crashing to the earth. But, he said nothing of this to the girl and their beloved dog, just told them to keep pulling. There might be a slight chance after all.

The girl, Nouchka, on the other hand, was becoming desperate, especially when the creatures first began to appear.

"Niko!" she cried, resisting the urge to let go of the rope and run. A large, shadowy monster with sharp teeth and fins for feet had suddenly appeared, hovering in the air. It then began to chomp at the rope with its teeth. There were at least ten more creatures of this nature, slashing and gnawing at the ropes securing the plane.

"We've got to do something!" Niko shouted.

"We'll help!" came a voice. Niko risked a glance behind him to see an older boy in strange dress running towards them, two peculiar companions tagging along behind him. Having been taught by his parents that staring was impolite, Niko brought his attention back to the monsters, even though he was more than certain two of the strange arrivals looked much like a duck, and a dog walking on its hind legs.

"Sora, Heartless!" wailed the duck-like companion as he pointed to the monsters with a thick, twisted staff.

"They're going to break the ropes!" Nouchka cried. "And there are people inside!" A light flashed out of the corner of Niko's eye, and when he chanced another glance, the boy was holding what appeared to be a giant metal key.

"Donald, Goofy, help with the ropes. I'll take care of this!" And with that, the boy rushed towards the monsters.

By the time the monsters had all been defeated, the ropes were already fraying. Thankfully, at this time, the stranded passengers were beginning to emerge from the plane. Niko continued to order his sister, dog, and new allies to keep pulling, as his eyes widened once again. He had thought the boy with the key would be the strangest thing he would see today, but no: a rough-looking man in a sea cap emerged, followed by two well-dressed gentlemen who looked exactly alike. The only normal members of the party were the white terrier that came bolting out and the red-haired boy in the blue sweater that leaped out after him. This was moments before the ropes finally snapped from wear and tear, and the plane went careening to the rocky terrain below.

The first boy, the one with the key, ran to the edge with a newfound energy. He did not seem tired, even after fighting off an army of monsters. The second boy, the one in the blue sweater, approached slowly. Both stared at the ground below.

"Heh, heh…" the duck-like character gasped for breath. "Are they all out?"

"Undoubtedly," said one of the well-dressed gentleman, to which the second added, "Indubitably."

"That's a long way down," said both boys, who then simultaneously glanced at each other. "Who are you?" they asked, still all at once.

"How did your plane end up crashing?" asked the first boy.

"Why do you have a key?" asked the second boy.

"You first," they both said, much to the annoyance of the other.

"Calculus was right about one thing," said the man who looked like a sailor. "This place is definitely odd." He was staring at the first boy's duck companion, who began tapping his webbed feet with a heavy "Humph."

"At any rate," said the boy in the blue sweater, "you all did just save our lives." He approached the rest of the group with a slow but definite step. "My name is Tintin," he smiled. "These are my friends: Captain Haddock" – the sailor nodded – "Detectives Thompson and Thomson" – the two tried to raise their own hats, though they somehow ended up raising each other's – "and my dog Snowy." The little terrier yapped with the recognition given him.

"My name is Niko," Niko said. "This is my sister, Nouchka, and my dog Gustav." The larger dog lumbered over to Snowy and began sniffing him.

"Hello," Nouchka greeted sweetly.

"And who are your friends?" Captain Haddock asked. At this point, the first boy had run over with the same burst of energy as when he had run to the cliff.

"I'm Sora!" He grinned from ear to ear as he gestured to his companions. "This is Donald" – the duck finally smiled for the first time since his appearance – "and Goofy" – the dog chuckled and waved a gloved paw.

"We just met them too," said Niko. "Are you all visitors?"

"We are," Sora said. "We're here to stop the Heartless." When nobody responded to this claim, he explained. "Those monsters that you saw," he said, "somebody is using them to try and take control of this world."

"World?" Captain Haddock asked. "Blistering barnacles! Nothing this boy says makes sense!"

"Let's just say we're here to stop some bad guys," Goofy said with a guffaw.

"Right!" exclaimed Donald with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Bad guys," Tintin mused, restating Goofy's words. "I wonder if that's what the Professor meant."

"Professor?"

"Oh, right!" he turned to Niko. "We're looking for our friend, Professor Calculus. He's supposed to be living in a house near the Lake of Sharks."

"Lake of Sharks?!" Niko looked horrified. "Beware that place. The lake has a curse on it." At this, Sora seemed to perk up, as if curses were normal, nay, even exciting to him.

"What kind of a curse?" he asked.

"We don't really know," Niko admitted. "But, the strange monsters began appearing somewhere around the lake. It's almost as if they're coming from the lake itself."

"Sounds like a job for us!" Donald exclaimed.

"Now, just a moment," Tintin said, "the Professor might know more about this than anyone. That said, this might be more along the lines of our expertise." The statement appeared argumentative, but was spoken with an air of caution.

"Well then…" Sora thought for a moment. "Let's all go see the Professor, whoever he is. He can help you with whatever you're working on, and he might be able to help us understand why the Heartless are appearing at the lake."

"I suppose it could work," Tintin admitted. "Why not?"

"Why don't you ride with us?" Nouchka suggested. "We can take you to the Professor's house." The strange fellowship muttered in agreement then all began to pile into a large covered wagon.

Unbeknownst to the party, one man was crouched behind some large rocks at the top of a jagged ravine. This was the pilot of the plane that had crashed onto the cliff. Into a large and boxy hand radio, he muttered:

"Calling Shark King: Operation Sardine Can has failed. I repeat: Operation Sardine Can has failed. Over."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Tintin liked to consider himself an optimist, but Sora's enthusiasm was almost scary. That grin of his had not faded since they had all piled onto the wagon, despite his claims of coming to the lake to fight monsters – or Heartless as he had called them. He might have been even more cheerful than Goofy, who appeared to chuckle a good deal of the time. He was definitely more cheerful than Donald, who tended to scowl and mutter every time the wagon went over a pothole. "What's the big idea?" he would warble so that Tintin could hardly understand him.

"You said you're here to fight Heartless?" Tintin said. "Aren't you the least bit worried?"

"Not really," Sora answered. "It's our job. What about you? You seem worried about meeting this Professor."

"I'm not so worried about meeting him as I am finding out why he called us. He said that whatever the reason, it was a secret."

"So, you don't know why he called you?" Donald asked, trying to take his attention away from their bumpy journey.

"Not really. But, I guess I'm not completely worried either. Professor Calculus tends to be a bit mysterious at times as a scientist. You would think he would stray from theatrics, but he does quite the opposite. Still," Tintin wondered aloud, "I am curious as to whether or not the plane crash had something to do with Calculus's secret."

"Why would you think that?" asked Goofy.

"The plane was only equipped with one parachute," said Tintin thoughtfully, "despite the fact that it was built to accommodate multiple people. Rather than try to land the plane safely, the pilot abandoned ship. I almost want to think that this was not an accident."

"But then," Sora said, "that would mean the pilot purposefully crashed the plane, which would mean…" He did not finish, and Tintin received the impression that Sora did not like to see the worst in people.

"I could be wrong," Tintin said. _But, I hardly ever am in these sorts of situations._ In the course of his adventures, Tintin had almost died easily over one hundred times, and most of those misadventures had not occurred by mere coincidence. There was usually someone behind the so-called accidents, a perpetrator to blame for the attempts on his life. But, he said none of this to the boy his age, who just sat against the canvas of the wagon's roof, his hands behind his head. "Tell me more about these Heartless," Tintin said instead.

"Basically, they're monsters that go after the darkness in people's hearts." Sora said this as easily as he might in observing an untied shoelace. "When someone has darkness in their hearts, they appear in that particular world. Usually, they are easy to fight in this state. But, if someone loses their hearts to darkness, the number of Heartless increases, and the world is put in jeopardy."

"And you still aren't worried? Have you three met these Heartless before?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Donald before he was shot into the air by a large pothole. He landed on his face with a shaky quacking noise and sat up, muttering under his breath.

"We've been fighting them for a couple years now," Sora said. "We're kind of used to it."

"If what you say is true," Tintin said, "then why are the Heartless appearing at the lake? No one lives around it, not after the flood that took out an entire village."

"No one except the Professor," Donald said.

"Yes, but Calculus isn't evil. He's a bit… erm… goofy," he said, not trying to make a pun of Goofy's name, but succeeding all the same, "and a little eccentric, but he's not evil."

"If you say he's a good friend, then we believe you," Sora said. Tintin tried not to frown. Was this boy really as naïve as he appeared?

"We're here!" Niko exclaimed as the wagon came to a halt. All of the passengers scrambled out, Sora, Donald, and Goofy practically falling over each other out the back.

"Wow!" Sora exclaimed as he stared at the large house in which Professor Calculus was staying. It was an old and peeling Syldavian cottage with broken shutters and a creaky door. Tintin did not think it was much to look at. Sora on the other hand… "It looks like it came from the dark ages!"

What?

"Welcome, good friends!" Professor Calculus, a short and balding man, emerged from the doorway with a grin across his mustached face. "You don't know how glad I am to see you!"

"Hello, Professor," Captain Haddock greeted. "How have you been these past few weeks?"

"I beg your pardon," the Professor frowned, "but I do not reek."

"Huh?" Goofy asked.

"Professor Calculus is a little hard of hearing," Tintin explained.

"I SAID," Haddock shouted, as if to prove Tintin's point, "HOW HAVE YOU BEEN THESE PAST FEW WEEKS?"

"The roof was patched up just last week," Calculus said, "you won't have to worry about any leaking." Haddock's face was reddening with anger.

"Look here…"

"Professor," Tintin said, "we brought some friends. They have some questions for you."

"Hey there!" Sora greeted as he and his friends approached.

"Why do I need to stay here, young man?" All three faces went blank at this response as Professor Calculus turned to Tintin. "Now, Tintin, I thought I told you this matter was a secret."

"They're not here about that," Tintin said slowly, trying to carefully annunciate his words. "They just have some questions about the lake."

"I was quite clear in my directions," Calculus said. "I hardly left room for mistakes."

"Professor, do you know anything about the monsters?"

"Well, it is clear to me that you have misheard." Tintin took a deep breath, pulled a notepad and pen from his pocket, scribbled on the paper, and handed the message to Calculus. Upon examination of the note, Calculus's face lit up.

"You want to know about the creatures near the Lake of Sharks?" he asked. Tintin nodded. "Well, why didn't you say so? I've been studying them for weeks beside my actual work. Why don't you all come inside, and I'll explain everything?" And with that, he walked into the house, the party – minus Niko and Nouchka, who had promised to stop by later to take Tintin on a tour of the lake – entering behind him.

_Meanwhile..._

"Boss!" A heavyset man in a blue, cable-knit sweater and newsboy cap came running through the corridor of a large, underwater base. Out the window, the man could see fish swimming by in a large, silver school. If he were not in a hurry, the man would have stopped to watch such a beautiful sight.

But, as it was, he had a job to do. He removed his cap and dabbed at the sweat on his forehead. The boss was in a particularly bad mood after the failure of Operation Sardine Can. The man would be risking his own well-being by approaching him in this state. Still, he had been told to watch for their incoming guest, who had just arrived a few seconds ago out of a strange, shimmering door in the air.

He shoved the door open and stopped to catch his breath. But, he could not pause for long. His boss was as impatient as their visitor.

"Sir," he reported, "he's here. The man in the black coat." His boss sat quietly in his swivel chair, his back to the man as he stared at an array of monitor screens.

"Show our guest inside, Allen," he said as he very slowly turned his chair around.

NOTE: We all love Sora dearly as a character. But, you have to admit that his enthusiasm and carefree attitude can be a little bit disarming. Now, imagine his demeanor against that of a teenager who's had more near-death experiences than he can count.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is where I have been staying," Calculus explained, "as I work on my experiments and study the creatures at the lake." Sora and company looked around. The main room, which had originally been a standard living room, was covered in all kinds of study and lab equipment.

"Cool!" Sora exclaimed, and to everyone's astonishment, he began running around and asking questions. "What's this do?" he asked, pointing to a small machine by the window. "What about this?" he asked, staring at multiple test tubes, chemicals bubbling within. "How about this?" he asked, finally ending up at a strange-looking slide projector. The Professor laughed.

"Those are all prototypes and experiments," he said, having at least understood the boy's hand gestures. "Except for that last one." Sora had pressed the button and jumped back as a giant, three-dimensional gorilla appeared before his eyes. Donald let out a wail and jumped behind Goofy, his feathers quivering in bewilderment.

"How did that happen?" Sora asked. "How did the gorilla get here?"

"It's not actually there," Tintin answered. "It's some kind of slide projector."

"Like the one Jane had in Deep Jungle!" Donald exclaimed, his fear having faded from Tintin's explanation.

"Only these photos look more real," Goofy agreed.

"Whoa!" Sora was running his hand through the gorilla's chest. "Do you have any more of these?"

"If you are interested," Professor Calculus said, not hearing Sora, but understanding his behavior and gestures, "I happen to have more." He reached into his coat pocket, shook his head, and tried the other. "Where are they? Oh my… they must have gotten scattered about the house. I really must be more careful." After a moment, he sighed. "You're welcome to look at the slides if you can find them all."

Sora decided that the search was worth it, and with Donald and Goofy by his side, he began running about the building, looking for slides. Tintin followed close behind to make sure they did not make a mess of things (or break anything). The four managed to find one inside a closet full of aging cheese, one by an old and rickety clock that appeared bolted to the wall, and one out the back on the green of a golf course. There were a few others spread about the house at random. One had been sitting on a windowsill upstairs, where the housekeeper, Madame Black had been staring out the window intently. "What are you looking at?" she demanded as Sora took the slide with caution, and the four quickly retreated out of the room.

"She's about as friendly as the Queen of Hearts," Sora muttered.

"What?" asked Tintin.

"Nothing." The four brought the slides to the projector and stared on in wonder. Nine of the ten slides in total amounted to the following images: a moon rocket, a sailing ship, a cabinet with two bottles on it – Captain Haddock was particularly intrigued by this slide – a ruby red statue with a chipped ear, a submarine, a mummy – that one caused Donald to hide behind Goofy again – a parrot on a stand, a suit of armor, and a miniature Mayan pyramid. The last of the slides featured a shark-like creature, hovering in the air, teeth gleaming, an x-ed out heart emblem on its belly.

"Heartless!" Goofy declared, brandishing his shield, forgetting for a moment that it was only a picture.

"So that's what a Heartless looks like," Tintin said.

"Maybe," Sora said. "I mean, this one is a Heartless alright: it has the insignia that marks it as one. But, not all Heartless look like that. This one kind of looks like a fish."

"It looks like a shark."

"Well, they are appearing around the Lake of Sharks," Donald warbled.

"We told you that swarms of Heartless appear in an area where someone has given their heart to darkness," Sora said. "Heartless tend to adapt their features to the areas in which they are connected. It's not an accident that they are showing up around the lake."

"But, nobody lives _in _the lake," Tintin said. "The only one who lives close to the lake is Professor Calculus, and I already told you that he's not bad."

"And we believe you, but didn't you say something about that pilot? Do you think he was acting alone?"

"No," Tintin said. "Usually, the people who try to hurt us are working for someone else."

"Then, who do you think he was working for?"

"The better question is: where is this mysterious boss hiding?" Just then, Madame Black rang the bell for dinner. The four joined the rest of the party in the dining room around a delicious dinner.

"I see you found the rest of the slides," Professor Calculus said. "I knew they were around here somewhere."

"Why do you have such a machine, Professor?" Tintin asked, speaking slowly and trying hard to annunciate his words. Thankfully, Professor Calculus understood this time around (of course, it also helped that he had his ear trumpet this time).

"Quite recently, artifacts have started to go missing in museums all over the world," he explained, "only to be replaced with counterfeit copies."

"I say," Captain Haddock said, "that wouldn't happen to be why you two bozos are here?" He gave a pointed look to Thompson and Thomson, who nodded simultaneously.

"At first, it was easy to tell when an artifact was stolen," Thompson said. "The forgery left in its place was subpar at best. A dud."

"Indubitably," agreed Thomson. "But, as time went on, the copies became more and more elaborate until no one could rightly tell the real from the fake and the fake from the real."

"And vice versa," Thompson said.

"And versa vice."

"That's what I said."

"Quite." The two officers clinked glasses, and Sora was left exchanging confused looks with his companions.

"But, what does that have to do with the projections?" he asked.

"It sounds like the Professor is reverse-engineering," Tintin said. "If he can find out how the more accurate copies were created, then Interpol can stop these types of robberies from happening again."

"That's clever," Goofy admitted.

"But, it is only one aspect of my project," Professor Calculus said. "As you saw before, the images looked quite real, but they could not be touched. I'm looking to create a machine that will make accurate copies of physical objects, identical in color, size, and texture."

"Let's just hope it works," Captain Haddock mumbled under his breath.

"Here's to you, Professor," Tintin said, raising his glass of water. "Let's hope for your speedy success." The company around the table toasted and finally started eating.

Madame Black, meanwhile, had made her way to the well while the Professor was distracted. With a quick glance around, she pulled on the rope until a bucket appeared. To anyone else, it would have appeared surprisingly dry. But, Madame Black had expected this. She had also expected the bucket to contain something other than water. Reaching in, she retrieved a walkie talkie. With another glance around to make sure no one was watching, she pulled the antennae out and pressed the button.

"Great Shark," she said. "Agent Ramses calling Great Shark. The Sardines are uncooked."

"I have been informed, Agent Ramses," answered a voice. "Prepare yourself for Plan B." At this, the woman gave a malicious smile.

Later that night, Tintin was on his way upstairs to bed when he heard hushed voices coming from the living room, where Sora and the others were camped out. The three had insisted on sleeping in the "Gummi Ship" (whatever that was) so the house would not be so packed. However, after discovering that this ship was miles away, back towards the direction of the plane wreck, Professor Calculus had insisted on the trio staying right where they were. As a result, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all crammed into the space that housed Calculus' experiments.

As Tintin slowly made his way down the hallway, positioning himself behind the wall so that he could listen without being seen, he managed to barely hear what his new acquaintances were saying.

"A replicator," Sora said. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"It would be a faster way to make more Heartless," Donald warbled.

"Or more Nobodies," Goofy added.

"It might even be able to replicate the number of hearts the Organization has gathered," Sora said. "Whatever Xehanort is up to, his goal of collecting hearts could be accomplished in a week, maybe even in less than that."

"What if he uses it to make more Xehanorts?" Goofy asked. Tintin could hear Donald shuddering.

"Anything but that," Donald said.

"Whatever the replicator is used for," Sora said, "we can't let the Organization get their hands on it. It would be bad news in every way."

"Are we going to help these guys then?" Goofy asked. Tintin got the feeling he had shifted the subject to him and his friends.

"What do you mean?" Donald retorted.

"Well, Tintin said that whoever crashed their plane had to be working for someone. And, Professor Calculus said that bad guys would do anything to get their hands on his machine. Sounds to me like someone is trying to get their hands on the replicator now."

"You have a point." Sora sounded contemplative. "I guess so. What bothers me is that Tintin also said that no one lives near the lake except the professor. The village that Niko and Nouchka live in is miles away. But, Professor Calculus is actually a good guy. So are the detectives, Tintin, and Captain Haddock. The only one who might be questionable is Madame Black." Tintin frowned to himself. _Yes,_ he decided, _there is something strange about her._ "But, she doesn't seem bad as much as she seems grumpy. Chances are that it's not her. So… who's drawing the Heartless, and where are they?"

"There aren't mermaids in the lake, are there?" Donald asked. _Mermaids?_ Tintin cringed. Was this a joke?

"Nah. Mermaids live in the ocean, not big and creepy lakes. You know this. We've been to Atlantica two times. Besides, mermaids are friendly. Remember Ariel and King Triton?" Once again, Tintin had no idea what they were talking about. As the three agreed to get some shuteye, he decided that there was nothing more to hear. He made his way back to the steps, feeling a bit more reassured. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were on their side, even if they were not here for the same reason as Tintin and his friends. It sounded like they planned on protecting the professor's experiment all the same. And perhaps, this Organization they had mentioned was responsible for all of the thefts and counterfeits. _But if they are,_ Tintin reasoned, _one would think they would be a bit more well-known._

_Even so,_ Tintin thought, stifling a yawn, _I still wish I understood half of the things they were saying._

Little did any of the residents know that just outside the house, a strange, shark-like creature had shimmered into existence, hovered for a moment in the shadows, and disappeared in a swirl of darkness.


End file.
